The controversial Saudi-backed golf league, LIV Golf, is reportedly in negotiations to re-up star player Bryson DeChambeau’s contract, which reports say could top $500 million, potentially crucial to keeping the struggling organization afloat as the PGA Tour has attempted to lure back some of LIV’s biggest stars.
Key Facts
- DeChambeau, a golfing champion who has become especially popular for his YouTube content creation that included playing golf with President Donald Trump, is signed to LIV, but his contract is up at the end of the 2026 season in August.
- He is one of four players eligible to ditch LIV and return to the PGA Tour under a new rule the PGA announced earlier this week that welcomes back departed players, provided they have won a major championship since 2022 and “accept severe yet appropriate financial consequences.”
- The prospect of returning to the PGA has given DeChambeau an upper hand in contract negotiations with LIV, The Telegraph golf reporter James Corrigan wrote Wednesday, reporting LIV could re-sign DeChambeau for $500 million or more, a massive payday that would be the biggest contract ever signed by a professional golfer.
- DeChambeau said at a press conference Tuesday he is “contracted through 2026” and is “excited about this year” when asked about the PGA’s returning player program, though some sports reporters and fans suggested his body language lacked enthusiasm for returning to LIV.
- Keeping DeChambeau is considered crucial for LIV, which has struggled with viewership and has reported big losses since its 2021 founding, particularly after LIV already lost five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who announced Monday he would return to the PGA Tour.
- DeChambeau appeared to tease fans on his Instagram story Tuesday afternoon that he is making a decision about his future, posting a picture of himself standing next to an exit sign with the caption: “What would you do?”
Who is Bryson Dechambeau?
DeChambeau is the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Open champion, dubbed “The Scientist” by fans for his degree in physics and his mathematical approach to the sport. He left the PGA Tour in 2022 for LIV Golf, though he had previously dismissed joining LIV as too big of a “risk.” DeChambeau said on a golf podcast in 2022 he was paid more than $125 million for a four-and-a-half year deal with LIV. But DeChambeau has become a widely recognizable face of golf because of his content creation career, with more than 8 million followers combined between his YouTube, Instagram and TikTok profiles. DeChambeau has collaborated with plenty of celebrities on YouTube videos, and his most-viewed video ever is a collaboration with Trump, a supporter of LIV Golf, which has garnered more than 16 million views. His Trump video was published in July 2024, months before his election victory, though DeChambeau’s video was a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. DeChambeau has since visited the White House multiple times, including in June when he hit shots on the South Lawn, and in December, when he praised the economy as the “greatest we’ve ever had.”
Why does LIV Golf need Dechambeau?
DeChambeau has been one of the major stars of LIV Golf, which has struggled financially since its launch. The Athletic reported in October the golfing league has posted increasingly large losses in each year of operation, totaling more than $1.4 billion in losses as of 2024. The organization’s losses in 2024 alone were $590.1 million. In its first three-and-a-half years of operation, LIV Golf reported over $1.5 billion in cost of sales, which includes the huge sums paid to players to sign them to LIV, according to The Athletic. Despite throwing money to lure players, LIV has struggled to match the PGA in viewership. Sports Illustrated reported the most-viewed LIV round last season garnered 484,000 viewers on Fox, far below some PGA events that exceeded 3 million viewers.
Tangent
DeChambeau told Front Office Sports on Wednesday he could ditch both LIV and PGA and focus on YouTube full-time while also competing in major championships, calling it an “incredibly viable option.”
Key Background
LIV Golf has been embroiled in controversy since launch because it is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and it has used huge sums of money to poach players from the PGA Tour. Some critics have accused the Saudi government of “sportswashing,” or using sport to improve its global reputation. Despite the Saudi connection, Trump has been an outspoken supporter of LIV Golf, telling players in 2022 to “take the money” while his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey has hosted several LIV events. LIV and PGA announced in 2023 they would merge, and Trump has said he could “get it done,” though the New York Times reported last April the talks have come to a standstill, citing unnamed sources familiar with the proposed merger.
Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here or become a member here.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
